Department for Communities and Local Government

Tenancy Agreements: Domestic Violence

Kate Hollern: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to set out the circumstances under which local authorities may exercise discretion in transferring lifetime tenancies for those seeking escape from domestic violence.

Mr Marcus Jones: Domestic abuse is a devastating crime and we are determined to ensure that women, regardless of their circumstances, should receive the support they need when they need it.Our Manifesto included a commitment to ensure that those who have a lifetime tenancy and flee domestic violence are able to secure a new lifetime tenancy automatically. We are currently working on how we can deliver this, and an announcement will be made in due course.We have already acted to put measures in place to support victims of domestic abuse. These include the securing of a dedicated fund totalling £40 million over four years (2016 - 2020), building on the £13.5 million provided between 2014 and 2016. The funding will provide provision for refuges and other specialist accommodation-based services to support victims of domestic abuse and service reform. On the 3 November 2016 we published our new ‘Priorities for Domestic Abuse Services’, developed with partners from the domestic abuse sector, which sets out for the first time what local areas need to do to ensure an effective response to meeting the needs of all domestic abuse victims.

Antisemitism

Paul Masterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions the Government has had with the Scottish Government about the Government's proposals to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism.

Mr Marcus Jones: We have had no discussions with the Scottish Government about that Government’s adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism. However, we welcome the recent decision of the Scottish Government to accept the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism, following discussions between them and the Board of Deputies of British Jews.

Homelessness: Social Rented Housing

Ms Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of nominations to (a) local authorities and (b) registered social landlord properties were homeless households in each of the last 10 years.

Mr Marcus Jones: Holding answer received on 17 July 2017



DCLG collects information on allocations of social housing through the COntinuous REcording of social housing lettings and sales (CORE). Table 3g of the published summary tables, available at the link below, provides the percentage of all local authority and private registered provider lettings where the tenant had been statutorily homeless prior to the letting. This is broken down for general needs, social and affordable rented and supported housing lettings.https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/social-housing-lettings-in-england-april-2015-to-march-2016

Homelessness

Sir David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent meetings he has had with (a) local authority leaders and (b) charity and voluntary sector representatives to discuss homelessness.

Mr Marcus Jones: Ministers in my department visit a variety of projects, and meet with representatives of local authorities, voluntary and charity sector organisations, policy experts and other partners on a regular basis to discuss a range of issues including homelessness.The Government publishes a list of all ministerial meetings with external bodies on departmental business on a quarterly basis. This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dclg-ministerial-data

Department for Education

Students: Fees and Charges

Alex Burghart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the cost of abolishing university tuition fees.

Joseph Johnson: The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has estimated that abolishing tuition fees would increase the fiscal deficit for the 2017/18 student cohort by around £11bn, with the long-term cost of student funding increasing by around £6.5bn.The major reforms to English higher education in 2012 have significantly increased average per-student funding. Graduates do not start repaying loans until their annual incomes reach £21,000, and loans are written off after 30 years.By enabling English universities to charge current tuition fees, the Government no longer has to ration access to higher education via a cap on student numbers. This enables it to offer more places, including to young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, who are now going to university at a record rate – they are 43% morelikely to go to university 43%more likely to go to university than they were in 2009.*Graduates earn, on average, substantially more than people with A levels who did not go to university. Various pieces of research show that Higher Education graduates earn, on average, at least £100,000 more over their lifetimes than those without a degree but with 2 or more A-Levels. The most recent BIS commissioned research shows that, on average, a male graduate could expect to earn £170,000 more and a female graduate £250,000 more over their lifetimes, than someone without a degree but with 2 or more A-levels, net of tax and other costs (2012 prices).Abolishing tuition fees would be socially regressive: as well as unfairly burdening the general taxpayer, it would benefit mainly those students going on to well-paid jobs, who repay their loans in full.*https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201617/ldselect/ldsecleg/92/9207.htm

Further Education

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications on individual testing entitlement for her policy of the recommendations of Professor Alison Wolf's report, Remaking Tertiary Education, published in November 2016.

Joseph Johnson: We welcome contributions to our thinking from experts on, and from within, the education sector. We are committed to delivering high performing further, technical and higher education, which represents good value for people throughout their lives.For example, we have legislated to remove the barriers to the provision of two-year degrees. We are also introducing a new maintenance loan for part-time undergraduate study for academic year 2018/19 and intend to offer maintenance loans to support students on further education courses at Levels 4 and 5 in National Colleges and Institutes of Technology. This year’s Spring Budget committed £40million to fund pilots that will test ambitious, new approaches to removing barriers adults might face when considering re-entering education.

Mature Students

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to increase the number of individuals aged 24 and over in part-time and full-time education.

Joseph Johnson: The Government is committed to ensuring all individuals have the opportunity to make the most of their potential. The Industrial Strategy Green Paper, published in January, outlined some of the challenges that adults face when considering re-entering education. This year’s Budget therefore committed £40million to fund pilots to test ambitious, new approaches to remove these barriers. We want to increase participation in higher education by older and part-time students, and we have taken action to support those who choose to study part-time. These measures include:From 2012, the offer of up-front fee loans for eligible part-time students, to level the playing field with undergraduate study;From academic year 2018/19, the introduction of undergraduate part-time maintenance loans, to bring greater parity of support between part-time and full-time;From 2015, the relaxation of Equivalent or Lower Qualification rules, so students who already hold an honours degree qualification and wish to study part-time on a second honours degree course in engineering, technology or computer science, have qualified for fee loans for their course. This is being extended for academic year 2017/18 to graduates starting a second part-time honours degree course in any STEM subject. In addition, we are extending undergraduate maintenance loans to distance learners from academic year 2019/20, subject to the development of a robust control regime. We are also removing barriers to accelerated courses. Evidence shows that accelerated courses appeal particularly to mature students who want to retrain and enter the workplace more quickly than a traditional course would permit. We have already made provisions in the Higher Education and Research Act 2017 to remove a key barrier to the growth of these courses, and will now consult on implementation and setting a new fee cap specifically for accelerated courses in secondary legislation. The Office for Fair Access has also asked universities to consider the different barriers mature learners may face in accessing, succeeding in, and progressing from higher education, and to consider what more they can do to attract and support part-time learners across the whole student lifecycle as part of their Access Agreements.

Lifelong Education

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of lifelong learning on (a) economic growth and productivity, (b) unemployment and (c) the health and wellbeing of people involved in lifelong learning.

Joseph Johnson: The Government recognises the importance of lifelong learning as a way for individuals to upskill and reskill throughout their lives, letting them access and stay in secure employment in response to labour market shifts such as increasing automation. Allowing workers to respond to these shifts contributes to the country’s economic resilience and productivity. Continuing to learn can also play a role in wellbeing later in life.